Welcome back to The Restricted Handling Podcast—your unfiltered, high-energy take on the world’s most dangerous and unpredictable flashpoints. Today’s episode is a wild ride through Russia’s latest drone stunts, NATO’s scrambling air defenses, Ukraine’s deep strikes inside Russian territory, and the Kremlin’s growing money problems.

Let’s start with Moscow’s favorite new party trick: drone incursions into NATO airspace. In the past week, Russia sent nineteen drones into Poland, then followed it up by flying one into Romania for nearly an hour. These weren’t mistakes. They were deliberate probes, designed to see how NATO reacts under pressure. Poland’s foreign minister even called them “duds”—unarmed but very intentional. NATO scrambled jets, Poland authorized reinforcements under Operation Eastern Sentry, and Romania promised to raise the issue at the UN. This is Russia’s way of stress-testing NATO’s shield, and the alliance is finding out the hard way that its air defenses have some serious gaps.

Meanwhile, Russia is flexing hard with its Zapad-2025 military exercises alongside Belarus. These drills feature Iskander-M missile deployments near Poland’s border, MiG-31s simulating Kinzhal strikes, and even a Zircon hypersonic missile test from a frigate in the Barents Sea. Belarus is practicing sabotage hunts and drone warfare while Russian milbloggers openly say the drills are preparation for war with NATO. No subtlety here—Zapad is Moscow’s way of saying, “We’re ready to go toe-to-toe if you are.”

But Ukraine isn’t sitting still. Kyiv unleashed a barrage of drone strikes on Russian oil refineries, rail lines, and even the Black Sea Fleet’s communications hub in Sevastopol. The Kirishi refinery—Russia’s second-largest—was hit hard, alongside the Novoil facility in Bashkortostan and the Metafrax chemical plant in Perm Krai. Ukrainian operatives also blew up rail sections in Oryol and Leningrad oblasts, killing Russian troops and derailing fuel tankers. These strikes are crippling logistics and hammering the Russian war machine where it hurts most: energy and supply lines.

And then there’s the money. Russia is running a massive budget deficit—over $50 billion so far this year—and Putin’s answer is to hike taxes on everyday Russians while giving drone makers a free pass. The Kremlin’s considering raising the VAT from 20% to 22%, squeezing consumers to keep the war funded. Meanwhile, Dmitry Medvedev is threatening Europe with eternal retribution if frozen Russian assets are used to support Ukraine.

This episode is packed with high-stakes drama: Russia’s drone swarms, NATO’s stress test, Ukraine’s bold strikes, and the Kremlin’s financial house of cards. Strap in—this is one you don’t want to miss.